A Night in Nimbasa
by Middle-Eight-Bridge
Summary: In which Hyuu hesitates to tell Kyouhei something... mild romance and fluff. Greyskyshipping


A Night in Nimbasa

The crowd was noticeably sparse compared to Hyuu's track events, but he guessed this was the norm for tennis matches, even in a city like Nimbasa. His mind went back to focusing on the current match. Kyouhei was going against his friend Mei, who seemingly had the upper hand. Hyuu honestly did not understand much about the sport of tennis, but he assumed Kyouhei missing the ball was a bad thing.

Hyuu's mind wandered again, not really interested in seeing his childhood best friend, and secret puppy crush, losing the match. The three of them were in Nimbasa City, and at first it was all about the Pokémon. They had visited the Battle Institute, the Battle Subway System, and had challenged Gym Leader Elesa for the Bolt Badge. Still, there were a lot of other things to do in Nimbasa. As a trio, they had spent the afternoon at the amusement park before heading to the Small Court for the tennis tournament Kyouhei and Mei had signed up for. Hyuu had tagged along for moral support.

The secret was, he had two tickets to see A Sweet Soirée with Kyouhei. Mei was under the assumption everyone would go their separate ways after the sporting event, but Hyuu had full intentions of treating Kyouhei to a nice evening in the city. He personally was not all that crazy about musicals, but he was well-aware of his best friend enjoying a match of tennis just as much as he enjoyed watching theatrical performances. He was, hands down, the only athlete Hyuu knew that would just as soon as go play his sport of choice as go see a production of The Nutcracker with Hyuu's little sister.

Luckily, Nimbasa offered the best of both worlds, arts and sports entertainment-wise, not to mention the amusement park they were just at.

Hyuu silently wondered if there would ever be a time where the Ronde View Farris Wheel was _not_ full of awkwardness.

Mei was a cock-blocking ninja, Hyuu had concluded.

_And she didn't even know it. _

But this time would be different.

If only he could manage to _not_ mess things up.

He had a habit of not being able to contain himself around Kyouhei these days. In fact, if they were not separately journeying at the moment, there was no telling what matter of stupid things Hyuu would have said or done impulsively. He was usually more of a calm and collected individual, but was, self-admittedly, practically constipated when alone with Hyuu anymore.

Yet, he still wanted to try this crazy idea out.

His focus returned to the match to realize it was over already. Somehow Kyouhei had managed to turn things around and claim a victory. Now that Hyuu thought about it though, that would explain the sound effects coming from the crowd for some time now. It must have been a close match. He probably would have cheered too if he was a tennis fan, but instead he smiled silently, admiring Kyouhei's visible modesty.

Kyouhei and Mei shook hands, she congratulated him, he scratched the back of his head and undoubtedly complimented her as a competitor and how close of a game it was. It was adorable, really. Or at least Hyuu felt it was…

Slowly but surely, the crowd finally dissipated. Hyuu lazily, and likely hesitantly, making his way toward Kyouhei and Mei. They were being congratulated by the select amount of tennis fans enthusiastic enough to approach them personally; hand-shaking, high-fives, a pat on the shoulder... Hyuu hung back, biding his time, silently wishing Mei would leave so that he would by-pass having to steal Kyouhei away, but that was asking for a lot, knowing Mei.

With Hyuu's luck, Mei would not catch any of his subtleties of wanting her to leave him to their mutual best friend and rival. No, Mei was never one to pick up on hints too quickly, or at all really. But in that way, she was just like Kyouhei, so he had trouble getting upset with her over it. They were both perpetually dense in that area.

He eventually realized Mei was, in fact, not leaving Kyouhei's side any time soon. Hyuu would have to cut in.

_Goody… _

He mentally prepared himself an excuse, weighing its legitimacy in his mind. It was far from the best, but it had to do. He had wanted his chance with Kyouhei all day now.

Carefully, he began to make his way closer to the tennis athletes. He took a long breath in and opened his mouth to speak only to be silenced by, what he guessed was, one of Mei's friends intruding on her conversation with Kyouhei, babbling obnoxiously. By the way she was dressed she seemed to be a tennis player too.

_Great_.

Now he was _really_ out-numbered.

But just as he closed in on the now three chatting tennis players, Mei's friend spontaneously started dragging her away, squealing something about meeting her new boyfriend. Mei had no choice but to follow.

_Score._

Fate was smiling upon him now. The rest was going to be easy. At least, that was what he psyched himself out to believe…

"Hey, Kyouhei," he managed to spew with a dumb smile.

Kyouhei turned.

"Oh, hey Hyuu. Did you enjoy the match?" he asked sheepishly, a stray hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah," he reassured, although he was likely only telling half the truth, "you and Mei were great out there."

That made Kyouhei smile.

Hyuu melted.

"Thanks, I'm glad you were there to cheer for us!" he chirped.

Hyuu gave a crooked smile.

"Kyouhei, I was wondering…" he trailed off.

Now it was his turn the rub the back of his neck.

"Yeah?" Kyouhei prompted after the awkward silence.

"Um… I was wondering if you'd… like to see the new musical tonight…"

"A Sweet Soirée?"

"I think that was it."

"Sure, wanna go get tickets now?"

"Way ahead of ya," Hyuu boasted, flashing the two tickets.

"Oh," Kyouhei started to realize the intentions and gave a warm smile, "that's really nice of you, Hyuu."

"It was nothing, you played hard during the tennis tournament after all…" he replied modestly.

"Just you and me, right?" Kyouhei asked abruptly.

Hyuu was taken off-guard, but managed to nod.

Kyouhei nodded back, "Let me say good bye to Mei. I'll tell her we'll see her in Driftveil."

Hyuu nodded again.

"Meet me behind the bleachers," Kyouhei arranged before seeking out Mei again.

Hyuu slunk into the shadows of the bleachers and began to wait, outwardly patient, but inwardly anxious. From behind the bleachers he saw Kyouhei regroup with Mei, that's when the paranoia struck him. What if Kyouhei wasn't meeting him here? What if he left to spend time with Mei? What if he thought Hyuu was being too forward and would chicken out? Just leave him here…?

_Stop._

He needed to keep his head clear or he'd do something impulsive.

Taking deep breaths, he eventually started to hear footsteps coming closer. He turned, it was Kyouhei after all. A wave of relief should have come over him, but it was about then that it had sunken in. He and Kyouhei were going on a _date_ together. Kyouhei approached already wearing a soft smile, as if he was waiting for something.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"I need to tell you something first," he spoke nervously, motioning to go deeper into the bleachers.

Kyouhei followed curiously.

These following moments were too fleeting for Hyuu. He was searching for the words to say and before he knew it Kyouhei was standing only two feet away, as if ready to be told a secret.

_It was a secret alright._

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

Kyouhei nodded.

"I-I've been trying to tell you this for a long time… I wanted to tell you several months ago but it was never really the right time…"

"Tell me what?"

Hyuu's face started to flush.

"I… kinda like you..."

Kyouhei's eyes stared out of focus and Hyuu quickly recovered.

"It's not like I want something out of you or anything, I just had to get that off my chest."

"I like you too."

"And it's okay if you don't wanna go to the musical with me anymo~ what?"

"I said I like you too."

Hyuu was a little dumbfounded.

"Really?"

Kyouhei chuckled, "yeah."

Hyuu felt like exploding.

_But it was a good kind of explosion._

The surge of emotion was making it hard to stay controlled.

_Kyouhei actually liked him back…_

Before he knew what he was doing Hyuu was moving closer to Kyouhei, and instead of looking uncomfortable like he would with anyone else, he actually moved in as well.

Wait, _what?_

Hyuu found himself kissing his best friend.

It was his first kiss. It was awkward, it was brief, and they both drew away rubbing their noses after the collision.

Kyouhei chuckled at the situation, it was infectious.

"Well then…" Hyuu chuckled back.

Kyouhei gave him a bright smile.

"Ready to go then?"

Hyuu nodded and they left the Small Court for the musical they were about to see.

The walk to the Theater was several football fields away, neon lights traced the cityscape with the dull roar of a lively night downtown. The streets were littered with all sorts of people from all walks of life, college-age girls shopping in small groups, parents swinging their children down the sidewalk, newlyweds with the lady on the gentleman's arm, the elderly couple spending their golden years on a park bench, a vendor or two, a box of Purloin kittens that read "free to a good home", and two trainers walking hand-in-hand through the breath-taking night that was Nimbasa.


End file.
